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Monday, May 16, 2016

French Onion Burger #BURGERMONTH

May is National Burger Month ~ but you probably knew that already. I've come up with a super burger to celebrate and it's over the top delicious!

The challenge was: Create an epic burger to be part of #BURGERMONTH. I think my French Onion Burger fits the bill. You must love onions to love this burger. There's caramelized leeks, crispy French fried onion rings and the burger rests on an onion roll!

Kita from Girl Carnivore is the brainchild behind #BURGER MONTH. One of the participants who is a blogging friend of mine told me about this wonderful event. There are dozens and dozens of bloggers who will be showcasing their own burger creations throughout the month of May. There was only a couple of spots left when I joined in. At the bottom of the post will be a link to all of the delicious creations that have been posted through the month of May. This isn't the first time for this rodeo. Kita started it last year and this year it's even bigger!

My obsession with burgers goes way back. When I was in my late teens I
took flight from home and went to live in Washington, D.C. I was a
typographer and worked second shift for a very prestigious type house in
the northwest section of D.C. I live on 16th and M Streets in northwest
and right across the street was the Statler Hilton Hotel which I think
is now called the Washington Hilton Hotel. Anyway, every day I would
venture to the Hilton to their on site restaurant and order a bacon
cheeseburger. That was my dinner. Every. Single. Day. Lucky for me I
walked just about everywhere: work, the grocery store and to fun places
like Georgetown, so those burgers didn't take a huge toll on my weight. I
sure couldn't do that now!

1 lb. ground chuck beef

1 bunch leeks

1 medium onion

Gruyere cheese

onion rolls

1 tsp. cornichons- diced small

1 1/2 tbsp. mayonnaise

1 tsp. ketchup

1 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup milk

hot sauce to taste

1/2 cup flour

oil

salt and black pepper to taste

Get your grill ready. For Charcoal grills that take longer, light the charcoal when you start the saute process of the leeks. (Step #3)

Take the leeks and slice off the root end and all of the dark green end. Slice the leeks and place them in a bowl of cold water to let the dirt settle to the bottom. Drain and blot with paper towels.

Get a large skillet going over medium heat and add in the butter. Add in the leeks with a touch of salt and saute until softened and caramelized. This takes about 15 minutes.

While the leeks are caramelizing, cut off one 1/4 inch slice of the onion and finely chop it.

Add your beef mixture to a bowl and add in the finely chopped onion. Mix to combine, but don't overwork the meat. Form into patties.

Get some thin slices of onion ready to make the onion rings and add about 1 inch or so of oil to a cast iron skillet or deep frying pan. Heat the oil over medium high heat to 375°.

In a bowl mix the milk and hot sauce then add in the onion rings. Get another bowl ready with the flour. Dredge the rings into the flour then add them to the hot oil and cook until crispy brown. Drain and season with salt then set aside and keep warm.

Slice your onion rolls and the cheese. Dice the cornichons.

Salt and pepper your burgers to taste, then grill your burgers and when almost finished, add the cheese to melt. Grill the rolls too.

When the burgers are done, make a quick sauce of the mayo, cornichons and ketchup. Mix well.

To assemble your burgers:

Add some of the cornichon sauce to the bottom of the roll.

Follow with a good bunch of the caramelized leeks.

Add your burger and top the burger with crispy onion rings.

I had so much fun coming up with this burger concept and hope you enjoy it immensely. Like I said earlier, you have to like onions!

I like my burgers medium well and this one came out beautifully. There's onion everywhere and it is all so delicious.